Lyme Disease - Arthritis News

MONDAY, July 17, 2017 – Most Americans know that ticks can make them sick, and many take steps to avoid them. But few know that this summer could be a particularly bad one for tick bites, a new HealthDay/Harris Poll shows. Scientists have predicted an upswing in the tick population this summer, which could potentially mean more tick-borne infections. Lyme disease is the most common of those illnesses, but the bugs can transmit a host of other, sometimes deadly, infections. One example is Powassan virus. It's rare, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: There have been about 75 cases reported in the United States in the past decade – mostly in the Northeast and in Minnesota and Wisconsin. Often, Powassan causes no symptoms, the CDC says. When symptoms do strike, they include fever, vomiting, confusion and seizures. The infection can also cause potentially ... Read more

-- A bite from an infected tick can cause a number of ills, including Lyme disease. But taking precautions before going outside can help protect you. Here are suggestions from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Know where ticks are likely to gather, and try to avoid them. Steer clear of tall, thick vegetation. Wear long-sleeved shirts and long pants, and spray clothing with .5 percent permethrin insect repellent. Use repellent that contains at least 20 percent DEET, picaridin or IR3535 on any uncovered skin. Check yourself and your children for ticks daily. Favorite hiding spots include the armpits, ears, belly button, waist, head, hair, between the legs and behind the knees. If you find a tick, remove it quickly with fine-tipped tweezers. Look for warning signs of Lyme disease, such as rash or fever. Read more

TUESDAY, Jan. 17, 2017 – Planning a hiking trip in an eastern U.S. national park? Better pack tick repellent – a new study found these parks are home to ticks that carry Lyme disease. Blacklegged ticks – also known as deer ticks – carrying Lyme disease were found in nine national parks: Acadia National Park in Maine; Catoctin Mountain Park and Monocacy National Battlefield in Maryland; Fire Island National Seashore in Long Island, N.Y.; Gettysburg National Military Park in Pennsylvania; Rock Creek Park in Washington, D.C., and Manassas National Battlefield Park, Prince William Forest Park and Shenandoah National Park in Virginia. This is the first time researchers have confirmed that the ticks are living at the parks, although it's long been suspected that the ticks were there because of human Lyme disease infections. "We know Lyme disease is increasing both in numbers of infections ... Read more

MONDAY, Oct. 24, 2016 – The big shifts in rain and warmth caused by El Nino and La Nina conditions may boost Lyme disease and intestinal infections in parts of the United States, a new study suggests. Over four decades, more tick-borne disease in the West and more gastrointestinal disease in the Northeast were tied to the periodic swings in weather conditions, researchers said. They believe the findings provide insight into potential effects of climate change. "There are important links between the environment and infectious disease risk, not only in low-income countries, like places with a lot of malaria, but in high-income countries like the U.S. and Canada, too," said study lead author Dr. David Fisman. He's a professor of epidemiology at the University of Toronto's Dalla Lana School of Public Health. "Hopefully, people will understand that environmental change can impact their ... Read more

MONDAY, June 6, 2016 – Babesiosis is a sometimes serious illness transmitted to humans by ticks. Now, researchers say a two-drug combo seems to have cured the illness in mice. Babesiosis – transmitted by the same ticks that transmit the bacteria behind Lyme disease – is caused by the B. microti parasite, which can develop resistance to current treatments. "This is the first radical cure against this parasite," said lead researcher Choukri Ben Mamoun. He's an associate professor of infectious diseases at Yale University, in New Haven, Conn. People infected with the babesiosis parasite sometimes have no symptoms. However, in other cases they can develop symptoms that range from mild and flu-like, to severe and life-threatening. Babesiosis is becoming more common in the United States, the researchers noted, and is more widespread in the Northeast and northern Midwest. The Yale team said ... Read more

SUNDAY, May 22, 2016 – While only a few tick species infect people with diseases, the rising popularity of many outdoor activities and the spread of residential developments has upped the odds that one of those creepy parasites might latch on to you. "Luckily, ticks don't fly, jump or fall from the sky," vector-borne disease expert Stephen Wikel said. He's a professor emeritus of medical sciences at Quinnipiac University's Frank H. Netter M.D. School of Medicine, in North Haven, Conn. "They generally move from grass to a living host, and crawl upwards, looking for a warm, moist area to feed. Ticks also have incredible anti-detection defenses. For example, their saliva is loaded with antihistamines, anticoagulants and other inhibitors that prevent wound healing, and dampen pain and itch responses; unfed nymphs are so small, they can be mistaken for freckles," he said. So, how can you ... Read more

WEDNESDAY, March 30, 2016 – People with persistent symptoms associated with Lyme disease are unlikely to find relief from longer-term antibiotic therapy, according to a new Dutch study. Although antibiotics are the correct therapy to treat Lyme disease when it is diagnosed early, longer-term use appears ineffective against the symptoms linked to the tick-borne illness and may carry the risk of side effects, the researchers said. "Most patients with Lyme disease are cured after initial antibiotic therapy. But, up to 20 percent of patients report persistent symptoms, such as muscular or joint pain, fatigue or concentration problems, despite initial antibiotic therapy," said study senior researcher Dr. Bart-Jan Kullberg. He is a professor of infectious diseases at Radboud University Medical Center in Nijmegen, the Netherlands. Treating these patients with longer courses of antibiotics has ... Read more

TUESDAY, Feb. 9, 2016 – A new Lyme disease-causing bacteria has been identified in the United States, and it may bring even worse symptoms, health officials said. Borrelia burgdorferi was the only bacteria species believed to cause Lyme disease in North America – until this new discovery, the researchers said. The newly-identified bacteria, called Borrelia mayonii, appears closely related to B. burgdorferi, say a team from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "This discovery adds another important piece of information to the complex picture of tick-borne diseases in the United States," CDC microbiologist Jeannine Petersen said in an agency news release. The first indication there might be a new species of Lyme disease-causing bacteria was unusual lab test results from six samples from people suspected to have the illness. Further genetic testing at the CDC and the Mayo ... Read more

TUESDAY, Feb. 9, 2016 – Scientists who sequenced the genome, or genetic composition, of the Lyme disease-transmitting deer tick hope the achievement will lead to new ways to control the blood-sucking parasites. The decade-long effort involved an international team of 93 scientists from 46 institutions. "The genome provides a foundation for a whole new era in tick research," project leader Catherine Hill, a professor of medical entomology at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., said in a university news release. "Now that we've cracked the tick's code, we can begin to design strategies to control ticks, to understand how they transmit disease and to interfere with that process," she said. The deer tick, also called the black-legged tick, is the first tick species to have its genome sequenced, the researchers said. The findings were published Feb. 9 in the journal Nature ... Read more

MONDAY, Jan. 18, 2016 – Ticks that transmit Lyme disease are now found in nearly half of all counties in the United States, a much broader swath than was seen in the late 1990s, researchers report. The findings show "that the distribution of Lyme disease vectors has changed substantially over the last nearly two decades and highlights areas where risk for human exposure to ticks has changed during that time," said study author Dr. Rebecca Eisen, a research biologist at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Lyme disease – transmitted by black-legged and western black-legged ticks often called deer ticks – can cause symptoms such as fever, headache and fatigue. It is often mistaken for the flu. Knowing where these ticks are found can help doctors make a correct diagnosis of Lyme disease, experts said. Researchers analyzed available data and found black-legged ticks ... Read more

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 12, 2015 – Lyme disease may be grossly under-reported in the United States. Government researchers say the tick-borne infection affects about 10 times as many Americans as previously indicated by confirmed case reports. About 329,000 cases of Lyme disease occur every year, researchers from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found in their analysis of a nationwide health insurance claims database for 2005 through 2010. That's much higher than the 30,000 confirmed and probable Lyme cases reported to the CDC in 2010. But it tracks fairly well with a previous CDC estimate of about 300,000 Lyme disease cases annually, said lead author Dr. Christina Nelson, a medical epidemiologist with the CDC's division of vector-borne disease. "We've always had the understanding that cases are under-reported, so we always knew that surveillance doesn't capture every case," ... Read more

SUNDAY, July 5, 2015 – People who spend lots of time outdoors in the summer need to be careful about insect bites, an expert says. Certain insects, such as ticks and mosquitoes, may be carriers of disease, including Lyme disease and Rocky Mountain spotted fever, said Dr. George Ruggiero, chief of family medicine and director of medical education at Peconic Bay Medical Center in New York. Anyone who develops headache, fever, chills and aches after flu season ends should consider the possibility that they've been bitten, he said. People who develop a rash should also be seen by a doctor, he added. "A combination of education and taking the right precautions are the best ways to prevent mosquito- and tick-borne diseases," Ruggiero said in a medical center news release. "Always be cognizant of your surroundings and diligent in your self-examination in order to prevent any serious ... Read more

MONDAY, June 8, 2015 – The same ticks that spread Lyme disease may also carry a rarer bacteria that's causing serious illness in the northeastern United States. Like Lyme disease, Borrelia miyamotoi disease causes flu-like symptoms such as headache, fever, chills and muscle pain. But at its most severe, it can lead to a serious brain infection – meningoencephalitis, researchers say. And nearly one-quarter of patients treated for the disease require hospitalization, a new study suggests. "This is an emerging infection and a lot of people and doctors have not heard about it," said lead researcher Dr. Philip Molloy, medical director of Imugen Inc., a Norwood, Mass.-based company that develops blood tests for tick-borne diseases. Imugen funded the new study. Fortunately, B. miyamotoi disease (BMD) can be treated with the same antibiotics used to treat Lyme disease, experts said. How many ... Read more